PUBLIC HOLIDAYS MUST NOT BE ABUSED BY POLICITIANS

On Tuesday the DA withdrew from the provincial Freedom Day celebrations in Port Elizabeth because the ruling ANC chose to adorn the stage with it’s flags. The DA speaker, Edmund van Vuuren, was not prepared to speak “under an ANC flag”.

Readers may find this excerpt from an editorial in The Herald this week relevant: “It is difficult to disagree with the DA on this issue and celebrations marking out national day must be stripped of any political party trappings if they are to become inclusive event.

“We would point at the same time to a separate celebration organised by some opposition parties at Constitution Hill as further evidence that division, all too often along racial lines, rather than unity has become a hallmark of these occasions.

“It would be tragic if this was to continue and we were to return to the pre-1994 period when our national days were of significance to one strand only of our rainbow nation. It is something that must be addressed now and we suggest that a multiparty group be established to decide on the ground rules for the celebration of our national days so that they become inclusive events and therefore promote unity and reconciliation.”